Anamaria Lefler

4/21/23

Case Study
Back in 1997, Toyota Supplier Relations was releasing a new car called Suprima
Crossover and before selling it they needed to make sure the car was up and running. However,
as they did some tests on it, they noticed that there were quite a few problems with it. They
found the most important issue was that the car needed improvement with its build. For
production to get done fast, they needed other companies to get involved. For example, a
company that was an option was ChassisCo. ChassisCo was a company that supplied automotive
systems and was noted as the largest vehicle producer worldwide. They were known for building
all the parts for the rear suspension cradle. One of their main goals was to try and meet the
targeted price for the parts that are being manufactured. Also, their employees have tripled, and
they’ve made more space for the production process. On the other hand, Toyota played a huge
part in the business, for they were the ones who built the car model. One of Toyota’s
responsibilities was to create a system that was efficient. It was called TPS, and it was a huge
system that controlled the factory. Toyota was also responsible for making sure every employee,
customer, dealer, supplier, etc. was satisfied. With respect given, it won the company continuous
amount of improvement and growth. Not only did Toyota create TPS, but they created a system
called JIT. JIT took control of making sure to reduce inventory like waste. The system, also, was
intelligent in problem solving and adaptable to change at any time.
Furthermore, with the success of JIT and TPS, it was Toyota’s plan to use these systems
to resolve any issues. Although for some companies, it was difficult to adapt to TPS without
making several changes to their job, many of the employees found it helpful to create their own
systems using the platform. Although Toyota was starting to improve, they needed someone to
help build the rear suspension cradles. Knowing that ChassisCo was the largest supplier in the
world, Toyota decided to partner with them. ChassisCo had the responsibility of fixing the crisis
by helping build one of the main parts for the car. However, since building these parts were
complicated and needed tedious work done, Toyota took part in helping manufacture the cradles
and even had companies in Japan help. The main duties for ChassisCo that helped the crisis was
that they created a team leader system that began improvements on projects. They, also, had a
great training program for incoming welders to help finish the parts. Since ChassisCo did an
amazing job with the 1997 Suprima launch, they decided to partner up with another one of
Toyota’s programs making them project manager for the 2003 launch. With the 2003 launch, this
vehicle had many difficult parts to manufacture. However, since ChassisCo did an overwhelming
job for the last launch, they were given full responsibility for the 2003. However, since the parts
for this new car were beyond difficult, Toyota realized that ChassisCo was far behind in the
process and did not believe they were capable of doing the job in time. Fast forward to 2004,
there a plethora of issues occurring, and it turned into a disaster. Considering all the hard work
they put in for the past launches, Toyota and ChassicCo have a chance to succeed. The only main
issue was ChassisCo was taking on a huge task unprepared. For them to succeed and help the
crisis, they need to get a bigger team together and start preparing for the project ahead of time.
This way, they would have everything prepared and ready to go on time. Next Toyota’s main
issues were the difficulties in the plant factory. So, for the plant not to fail, Toyota needed to
check the system or create a new one for it not to fail.
Considering all the factors in this situation there are several ways that I would have done
it differently. Knowing the project was going to be complex, preparation and organization is the
key to success. In order to succeed in something that is challenging, the first step is to gather the
right team to make it happen, and to make sure the companies involve are prepared and have the
knowledge and power to complete any task. After setting up a team, everything needs to be well
thought out. For example, we need to know how many parts are needed for the car and what the
cost is like to make sure we can afford what is needed. With the launch of 2004, one of the main
problems was the car’s parts were expected to have many defects. To fix this issue, we need to
hire experienced employees that we can count on for the job. Not only are the employees
important, but we need to make sure we are using the correct materials to build the parts. After
building the parts, it is important to build a dummy (car) to test if all the parts work. Personally, I
would have built the car years prior, tested the car out several times, and then had the launch
when I knew it was ready. With all these factors, success should be met.